How oranges protect us from stroke

By Sade Oguntola

Oranges

Increase in daily consumption of oranges and other fruits and vegetables rich in Vitamin C may help reduce your risk of developing stroke. Ensuring an increased blood levels of vitamin C this way, experts suggested from on a large European-based study can offer significant heart and blood vessel benefits.

In a study among 20,649 men and women that took part in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer, the authors, led by Phyo Myint from the University of Cambridge, stated that low levels of this vitamin in the blood is a useful biological marker to identify people at high risk of stroke.

Strokes occur when blood clots or an artery bursts in the brain and interrupts the blood supply to a part of the brain. It is the leading cause of disability and the third leading cause of death in many countries.

Writing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Myint, said the amount of vitamin C in an individual’s blood is also a good marker of a wider range of health behaviours, such as fruit and vegetable consumption, that may be protective against stroke.

Myint and co-workers followed the subjects for 9.5 years and documented 448 strokes during this time. The subjects completed a health and lifestyle questionnaire at the start of the study, and blood samples were measured for their vitamin C levels.

The highest average blood levels of vitamin C (greater than 66 micromoles per litre) were associated with a 42 per cent lower risk of stroke, compared to the lowest average blood levels (less than 41 micromoles per litre). This was after adjusting for such factors such as age, sex, smoking habits, alcohol consumption, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, BMI, physical activity, and use of supplements.

When the Cambridge researchers excluded participants who consumed vitamin C-containing supplements, the results were the same, indicating that the benefits could have been from vitamin C-rich foods, such as fruit and vegetables.

Aside suggesting that vitamin C level in blood from dietary intake of plant foods is likely to be a good biomarker of stroke risk, they declared that it could also be a good predictive risk indicator of stroke, independent of other known risk factors such as age, blood pressure, smoking, cholesterol, diabetes, and BMI.

Sebastian Padayatty and Mark Levine from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in an accompanying editorial in the journal, said the take-home message from the study was that the public should aim for between five and nine servings of fruit and vegetables per day and to consume a wide variety of such foods.

Meanwhile, this further substantiates the benefits of eating a Mediterranean-style diet, which is characterised by higher intakes of plant foods and fish, moderate intake of wine and lower intake of animal products. Foods frequently in the diet included garlic, cucumber, olive oil, salad greens, legumes, tomato, cheeses, olives, onion, watermelon, steamed fish and boiled chicken. It has long being linked to lower incidence of heart disease, obesity and certain types of cancers. The diet is a rich source of antioxidants, monounsaturated fats, omega-3 fatty acids and fibre, and relatively low in saturated fats.

For instance, a group of researchers that carried out the Australia’s largest study of eating habits, published in the July 2007 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, said consuming a Mediterranean-style diet, rich in fruit, vegetables and fish, may reduce the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease such as stroke and hypertension by 30 per cent.

The study followed 40, 653 volunteers (23, 980 women, aged between 40 and 69 for 10.4 years. Almost one quarter (24 per cent) of the volunteers were born in the Mediterranean.

The researchers calculated that highest adherence to the Mediterranean-style diet was associated with a 41 per cent reduction in ischaemic heart disease (IHD), characterised by a reduction in blood flow to the heart.

When vegetables and fresh fruit were considered separately, the protective effect from deaths related to cardiovascular diseases , had risk reductions of 34 and 31 per cent, respectively, for the highest versus lowest average intakes.

This was further corroborated by a report from Geoffrey K. Maiyoh at the University of Hawaii, Manoa in the Journal of Nutrition that cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower may be of great benefit to heart and blood vessels because they contain substances that are able to reduce the chances of cholesterol depositing on the blood vessels. The study was in-line with other studies reporting the cardiovascular benefits of vegetables, published in The Lancet, that said that eating five or more portions of fruit and vegetables per day could cut the risk of stroke by 26 per cent.

However eating a Mediterranean-style diet is far better than taking individual supplements for cardiovascular disease according to Annie Lapointe and colleagues from Laval University in Quebec, in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry
The numerous clinical trials that report on individual supplements like vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and polyphenol compounds , she said are insufficient to draw firm conclusions on supplement being better than natural sources of these nutrients from a balanced diet.

Tackle pile, sexual weakness with bitter leaf

RECTAL troubles are common with many people today due to many reasons, one of which is the type of diet we often eat. Pile or haemorrhoids are rectal troubles many men , children and women regularly complain about.

Pile generally known, as jedijedi is so common that some infants on infant formula also experience it. Many medical practitioners have also been warning parents and guardians not to expose children to sweetened foods and junks or refined foods, hinging their arguments on the fact that many of these foods does not only increase blood sugar level but cause diabetes, but trigger pile and haemorrhoids (yodiyodi) in children.

Also, adults that are fond of regularly eating sugary and fatty foods and most especially, soft drinks are also potential candidates of pile. Since most of our diets are carbohydrate-based and when broken down through the process of digestion produces sugar as its end product, regular consumption of sugary foods would have to be minimised.

However, if pile is not treated with appropriate drugs on time, it could become severe, leading to chronic haemorrhoid.

Pile or haemorrhoid is due to swelling or enlargement of veins that supply the rectal outlet of the body. Localised inflammation and bleeding, and also thrombosis in many cases often complicate this painful condition.

People who suffer from constipation and other bowel disorders have been said to be more likely to develop haemorrhoids. Haemorrhoids could also be experienced during pregnancy and in children who are fed with infant formula early in life. It can also affect the liver and upper bowel in severe cases.

External haemorrhoids can be seen because they actually lie outside the rectal junction, while internal haemorrhoid are soft and dark coloured and usually have irregular shape.

If haemorrhoids are not treated on time, they become very large and may protrude through the anus. Anybody having it will experience serious difficulty when passing stool and it is usually accompanied with pains.

Although pile may not be as dangerous as haemorrhoids, however one should do everything possible to avoid these unpleasant rectal problems. Some people’s pile and haemorrhoids have even gotten to a stage that they can hardly sit down for long without complaining of either waist or back pain. It is even a public embarrassment to some people.

Haemorrhoids are also the most common cause of back pain and rectal bleeding. Symptoms of pile in children include pains in the lower abdomen and back, straining at stooling which sometimes may lead to the tearing of the rectum and stool containing blood stains. In adults, especially women, pile or serious haemorrhoids can cause severe back pain, hip or pelvic pain as well as difficulty in passing stool. Such a woman may not be able to sit down for a long period of time and could also cause some discomfort or unpleasant feelings prior or during menstruation.

In adult male, pile or severe haemorrhoids may affect sexual activity, especially suppressing libido. It has been reported to cause weak penile erection, and premature or untimely ejaculation and to a certain extent affect sperm count. Severe pile or chronic haemorrhoids have also been linked with inability to father a child in some men.

Alternative medical practitioners believe that it is not the best practice to embark on surgery to rectify chronic haemorrhoids, basing their arguments on the fact that many patients have lost their lives after having had a haemorrhoid surgery. They said some dangers or complications are attached to haemorrhoids surgery.

Moreover, to tackle pile and haemorrhoids effectively in a natural way, what needs to be done is to prepare a natural cure with bitter leaves, tea bush (Lippia multiflora), basil leaves, popularly referred to as efinrin, Kamnafuru (syzygrium aromaticum) and the leaves of Jatropha curcas called Lapalapa pupa by the Yorubas.

The therapy is prepared by cutting the washed leaves of these plants and their juices extracted. These plants can also be grinded or mashed together to bring out the juices. Then sieve the juice out and add Syzygrium aromaticum (Kamnafuru).

Syzygrium aromaticum juice can also be extracted using the above method. Then cut into pieces Mimosacede or tetrapleura tetraptera known as Aidan among the Yorubas and allow the concoction to ferment together say for three days before taking orally. The dosage is three spoonfuls, which must be taken daily with warm water.

Apart from tackling pile and haemorrhoids, Syzygrium aromaticum (kamnafuru) contains an active ingredient, which boosts libido in men. No wonder some people referred to it as “man power” drug. It is also used to treat severe headache.